Fairness in Local Democracy – Why Was I Blocked?
I’ve lived in New Zealand for more than 20 years, and for the last nine years my family and I have called Matangi home. Like many of you, I care deeply about our community. That’s why I am standing for Council — to be a voice at the table for Matangi, Tamahere, and Tauwhare.
But something has happened in this election that I feel I need to share.
Recently, I joined our local Matangi–Tamahere–Tauwhare Residents’ Facebook group to connect with the community. I posted about ordinary things: visiting the market, attending local events, supporting schools. These are the same kinds of posts other candidates make. Yet days later my posts were all deleted. On 18 August, the group set an automatic block on anything I posted. No explanation. No transparency. Meanwhile, another candidate’s posts — very similar to mine — all remain visible.
This raises important questions for all of us:
- Why was I blocked when I was simply sharing local community news?
- Why are some candidates allowed to post freely while others are not?
- Why was a “one-month-account-age-rule” introduced, but never published on the group page?
- Why was my husband also denied membership, even after agreeing to the rules?
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This is not just about me. It’s about fairness. When a community group treats candidates differently, it risks influencing the way residents vote. Our Local Electoral Act 2001 is clear: no one should interfere with a fair election by limiting a candidate’s ability to reach voters and by so doing surreptitiously influence the election outcome.
Social media is one of the main ways people now get information. Blocking one candidate, while allowing others, undermines trust in the democratic process.
I believe residents deserve better. You deserve transparency, fairness, and equal access to information about all candidates.
So, I ask you to think about this: if a candidate is silenced in an online community space, what other voices might also be excluded? And who benefits when that happens?
I remain committed to serving our community with openness, fairness, and accountability — values I will also take with me to the Council table.